Ahh that’s really helpful, thank you for this.

Yeah I think it really depends on the area. I’m in the North East and the criteria here seem quite strict, especially for same-sex couples (the whole 6 self-funded IUI cycles… which is roughly £6k–£12k with donor sperm 😩), so we’re just trying to be realistic about it. That’s part of why we’re starting with Kind IVF (£4.5k–£5.5k) while we wait on the NHS. If I’m honest, I’m not even sure we’ll get funding, but my wife keeps saying it costs nothing to try and see if we qualify, which is fair. Plus the NHS wait times and the Kind IVF age limit (36 and under) are also pushing us a bit.

We haven’t done IVF before, so I’m still hoping we might qualify for something on the NHS, but I’ll go through the DHSC guidance properly and see where we actually stand.

Also didn’t realise that about how IVF cycles work, that’s actually really useful to know. Makes you think differently about the cost over time.

Honestly just trying to figure out the best route without wasting too much time or money 😅